Longtime Bennington business affiliates with Brattleboro-based Leader Home Centers

By NEAL P. GOSWAMI / Bennington Banner

Posted:
05/03/2013 09:30:46 AM EDT

BENNINGTON -- H. Greenberg & Sons became a part of Leader Home Centers on Wednesday, allowing the local store to provide new products and more services to customers, according to a company official.

"Greenberg's is staying as Greenberg's but we've joined them in a way that provides Greenberg's customers far more resources for construction and home remodeling," Vice President Steven Greenberg said Thursday.

Leader Home Centers, based in Brattleboro, also has four additional stores located in Massachusetts in Amherst, Barre, Deerfield and Greenfield.

Greenberg said the local store remains a separate company, but the affiliation will provide greater purchasing power. That means better service for customers and a continuing presence in the community.

"This is a great thing for the community. This means this business is going to be here a very long time. People are keeping their jobs. There will be resources to do business with far greater geography," he said.

Greenberg's officials spent time studying the Leader Home Centers business before joining, according to Greenberg. He said management at the Bennington store saw "a very strong alignment between the two of us about what really needs to be done to make this a very successful home center for the future."

"They're very successful at what they do. Their employees are very happy. They treat their employees very well and pay their employees very well and they are very community minded," Greenberg said.

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The Bennington store employs more than 30 people. Greenberg said the staff could potentially grow in the future.

"As business improves, that's not out of reason," he said. "Right now there's no plan to add employees."

Some remodeling and infrastructure improvements are already under way. The store plans to add more lumber barns and spruce up the store.

"If anything, improvements are going to be what people see, things that I've needed to do for a long time," he said. "The actual site is going to be revitalized."

The store, which has been in downtown Bennington for more than 60 years, will continue to serve as an "anchor store" and drive traffic to the area, Greenberg said.

"Everyone seems energized because there's been rumors and rumors and rumors. All the rumors are not true, and that's the problem. To me, this is really good for the community. It gives people choices. There's a place for Home Depot. There's a place for Greenberg's Home Center," he said.

The company was founded by Harry Greenberg as an agriculture and livestock business in the early 1900s. His son, Norman, moved the business to its current location in 1949. The company later added the lumber yard and expanded the building footprint over the years.

A second Greenberg's retail store in North Adams, Mass., was opened in 1976. The Massachusetts store closed abruptly last month, however.

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